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Sneak peek at the new house {+ ideas for a closet reading nook!}

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Eek! How is it that I'm moving in less than a week now, and I hardly have anything packed yet? This move has kind of snuck up on me, even though we've been planning it for a couple of weeks now. I shared a few pictures in my recent blog post, but if you're too lazy to go read about it, here's a few pictures from the online ad we saw. It's only four blocks from where we live right now!

It's a really cute, older house that's been completely gutted and renovated. We're not buying it- just renting, but hope to make it our home for a while. It's only a block and a half away from the kids' school, so it almost couldn't be more perfect for our little family. The house has new electrical and plumbing, as well as nice cosmetic updates (and beautiful appliances- I haven't had a dishwasher in years). It's got all of the quirky, old home charm, like arched doorways, old school window panes, and beautiful dark wood floors. Isn't it cute? I'm so beyond excited to move in!

The kids and I walked down to the house the other day to do the walk through and go over some of the boring move-in stuff. While we looked around I took a few pictures so I could start brainstorming decorating and furniture arrangements. My pictures aren't the best, unfortunately, because I was trying to wrangle Harper at the same time, and she was having a blast beating me in the chest and screeching in my ear while I hurriedly snapped some shaky pictures. Trying to stand completely still while holding a squirming 13 month old is no easy task, so here's what I was lucky enough to get:

The living room is going to be a challenge to set up, but I think it has a lot of potential. I love the little built in shelves, arched ceiling, the little windows, and the fireplace. However, the fireplace is going to be a hazard for my little exploring toddler and will have to be blocked off somehow, at least for now while she's still really little. See the little thing Lily is standing on off to the left? Yeah, I'm not really sure what that thing is. It's open on each side, so the kids can walk completely through it. The owner said she used to put a plant right there, and I think I may do something similar. I was thinking maybe once upon a time it was used for stacking firewood or something, but who knows. Also, I have so many cute ideas for that fireplace mantle! We may opt to put the TV up there instead though, so I can get rid of my poor, old TV stand/entertainment center (it's seen better days). We shall see!

The kitchen is beautiful, and much bigger than what I have now. Plus, as I excitedly mentioned before, it has a dishwasher! Hallelujah, it's a miracle. I really could cry. The last three houses I lived in didn't have one, and I've had about enough of hand-washing dishes three times per day. Do you have any idea how many dishes a family of 5 makes? Especially now that we've entered the sippy cup stage with Harper. I hate washing crusty sippy cups! No more- my children have already been warned that there will not be a single dish placed in the sink any longer. They will be rinsed and put directly in the shiny new, stainless steel dishwasher. Seriously, if my family doesn't follow my crazy take-care-of-your-own-dirty-dishes rule, there will be hell to pay. I'm done! Done, I tell ya.

This cozy little area is upstairs, tucked away in between the big kids' rooms and the 2nd bathroom, and is going to be my crafty room! I'll set up my sewing machine, Silhouette stuff, and my fabric stash in this bright and cheery spot and finally move it all out of the dark basement, where it currently lives. I am thankful I have a crafty space as it is right now, but I'm looking forward to actually making this space my own creatively-cute work space. Plus, it'll be pretty.

The upstairs bathroom is probably my favorite room in the house. Seriously, it's huge, and it's right next to my craft room. It's the biggest bathroom of any house I've ever lived in, and I'm obsessed with the massive jacuzzi tub. Like I said in the previous post, I hate our current bathroom It's tiny, it's old, and the tub only gets about 4 inches of warm water before it starts turning cold, so I cannot wait for the long, relaxing, soaks I'm going to have here. I also love that the shower is separate from the tub! I'll have to get some yummy scented candles and make some pretty crafty decorations to create some ambiance in this bathroom and make it my own little relaxing, bubbly, sanctuary every night. Now, if only I liked wine.

Harper approves of mommy's new bathtub.

Now, here's a really fun idea I have for Lily's room. Forgive me, because the pictures are absolute crap, but I couldn't put Harper down due to the stairs nearby, and she was getting really impatient and squirmy. Upstairs, in Lily's room, there's a funky little walk-in closet that doesn't have any shelves or hanging bars or anything. It's just a cute little area that we want to turn into something really cool, like a fun reading nook!

Check it out:

Again, crappy pictures, ugh. It's hard to tell, but there are actually 2 areas within the closet. There's a little door you open for the closet and you can walk into it, then there is another doorway you go through (without a door though) and it opens up into a bigger area. It's going to take some creative configuring, but I think we can use part of the closet for clothes and shoes, and use the rest as a fun reading area, with some curtains and fluffy floor cushions or bean bag chairs. I hopped on Pinterest with Lily by my side and we got some great ideas. We'll probably incorporate a lot of these somehow, some way. Check out my Pinterest board with all of the cute reading nook ideas we found:

There's a lot more to see of the house, but those are the only pictures I was able to snap one-handed. There's plenty of time for me to show you more later on though, since we are getting the keys on Friday! We have a ton of non-house related stuff to do on Saturday and Sunday, but in between the gazillion thing that are going on this weekend we are also going to try to start moving some of the small stuff over to the new house. Then on Monday the kids start school, and we will move the big furniture over to the new house. That means by Monday night we should be sleeping in our new rooms!

Well, I guess I should get back to packing. Next up: the kids' closets. Oh joy!

Don't you love the idea of a reading nook? Leave me your best packing or moving tip, please :)